Castlevania: Hearts In Ice Part I
by Vampiresanddemons
Summary: *This story is now complete part II is uploaded* This is an original story for my OC from the series Castlevania. Serenity Graves, along with her three older brothers and several other vampire hunters arrive at a strange castle that appeared out of thin air one cool autumn night. They are tasked with investigation of the castle grounds.
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

A young girl was running down the dirt road at full speed. She had her head tilted down, with her black hair flying free behind her head.

A boy called to her from higher up on the road, "Serenity, hurry up!"

The girl's head rose, she had a big smile on her face and was laughing. The girl stopped next to an older boy with dirty blond hair, and it was clear that he was not happy.

"Why is it that you are always late to come home after father has warned you about the demons in this area?" the boy asked.

The girl, Serenity, was breathing hard and looking up at him, "I'm sorry big brother, but I was just..." she did not get a chance to finish before her brother broke her off, "I do not want to hear your story. You know that mother gets worried about you when you go out on your own. You're not even ten years old yet, and you want to fight demons."

The boy shook his head and turned away from her. Two more boys were sitting on a tree branch just above the road, one with brown hair and one with crimson hair.

"Oh give her a break Eric, Isaac was late too and you didn't give him any grief." the boy with brown hair said.

Eric looked up at him and replied, "That is not the same and you know it, Isaac can protect himself, Serenity cannot."

The boy with red hair, Isaac, jumped off the branch and stood in front of Eric and crossed him arms. "Isn't that why uncle said the other day that father and us should start training her to fight?" he asked with a hint of hostility in his voice.

Eric looked down at him and said, "Do not act like you are older, Isaac, I know you hate to fight and do not like training. Besides, mother said herself that five fighters in the family is enough. Now enough of this, we need to get home before nightfall."

The other boy jumped down from the branch and started walking with the others up the road to a very nice looking country house.

A man stepped out of the doorway, "It's about time you four got back." he said with a smile.

"Yes, forgive us father, but Serenity was late again today." Eric said.

"Oh, is that so?" The man said.

"I'm sorry father, but I was looking at the castle on the top of the hill. I know you said to stay away from that area, but I..." Serenity was trying to hold back tears, but they spilled over, and ran down her face.

The boy with brown hair stepped between Eric and Serenity, getting down on his knees he hugged her tight.

"I thought I told you not to cry anymore, Serenity."

"I know Nathan, I'm sorry." she said through her tears.

Their father turned back toward the house and called back to them, "Come, children. It's almost dusk, and the demons will be out soon."

The five of them walked into the house, Serenity stood in the doorway and looked out over the land and called to her father, "Father, are you going on a hunt tonight?"

Inside the house came a reply, "Yes."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter I: The Night Begins**

A woman with long black hair was looking out along the long grasslands before her; in the distance was a very old looking castle. It was nearly five minutes to sunset, and a deep golden hue shone through the few trees on the land. She slowly started walking into the tall grass and toward the castle. From a few yards over to the right, three figures were walking diagonal to the woman and the castle; they were all wearing black coats with the hoods up. To the left of her, there were even more people walking, they too were wearing the same black coats.

"You are late." her said softly as she stopped walking and looked up at the castle.

"Sorry Serenity, but we ran into a little trouble on the way here." stated a male voice on Serenity's right.

"This will be more difficult than we had previously thought." a woman's voice replied back to the male's voice.

The group started walking to the castle together, none saying a word. After a few minutes, the group reached the castle drawbridge; it was lit with at least fifty candles. As if on cue, every member of the group threw their hoods back. With the help of candlelight, a grand total of twelve people stood on the bridge. The female portion consisted of Serenity Graves, Mina Hakuba, and Charlotte Aulin, Greatly over-populating the female portion, the male portion consisted of Nathan Graves, Eric Graves, Isaac Graves, Hugh Baldwin, Simon Belmont, Adrian Tapes (Alucard), Soma Cruz, Trevor Belmont, and Jonathan Morris.

"Eric, do you really think it was wise to bring so many of our people here?" Simon stated as he took his coat off, revealing his armored body.

"I think it would have been a better idea if we would have brought everyone with us." Eric replied.

Everyone but Nathan and Serenity were talking off their coats and laying them on the stone bridge.

"That would have been an even graver predicament. Simon is right, we should have left some of them behind, they will only prove a hindrance to the rest of us should we find trouble." Alucard stated coldly, folding his arms in front of him.

"That may be true, but we will need all the help we can get if we do find trouble. You know as well as any of us what Chaos is capable of." Eric replied, walking on a little further up the bridge.

Alucard scowled and followed him, as did everyone but Nathan, Serenity, and Hugh.

"What do you think?" Hugh asked in a hushed tone.

"There is defiantly something coming, I can feel it." Nathan replied even quieter.

Hugh pulled out his sword without making a sound; the others were still walking on, unnoticing the missing three people in the group. Nathan, like Hugh, pulled out his whip without making a sound. The two looked around slowly. Serenity took a step back and turned around facing the grassland from which they had just come.

Narrowing her eyes she drew her own sword and said, "There is diffidently something out there, it is coming in fast."

"What is it, can you tell?" Nathan asked without a hint of fright in his voice.

"No, but I can tell you that it is not some push-over demon that we can fight off in two seconds." Serenity stated quietly.

"Perhaps we should tell the others." Hugh said turning around, and his face turned an even paler color than it already was. "Damn it, sometimes I really hate your brother." Hugh said.

Nathan turned and saw what Hugh was saying; the whole group was off the bridge and into the castle.

"Great. Well, at any rate, no one will get hurt on our account." Nathan replied back to Hugh, turning back around to face whatever might be on the way to the castle.

"The only ones that will get hurt are us." Hugh said, taking up his fighting stance.

Smiling, Serenity said, "No, we can deal with this thing. I am worried about the others in the castle, however."

Nathan glanced over in his sister's direction before putting his attention back into the field, "What do you mean by that? I would think you would be more worried about the three of us out here than the nine of them inside."

Shaking her head slowly, Serenity replied, "No, if you remember the incident when we first encountered Hector, when Isaac was under Chaos' influence, he separated us from each other. That was Eric's plan, to form a group so that Chaos could not get one of us by ourselves and take them out."

Both Hugh and Nathan looked over at Serenity, and then Hugh stated, "Well, I think each of us can take care of our selves. Especially you Serenity, I mean, when we took him on a few months ago, you nailed him pretty good on your own."

"Hugh's right, even though you had to use your powers, you gave him a pretty good beating." Nathan said smiling.

Serenity looked down, shaking her head again replied, "No, do not think of me. Sure I can take care of myself from him, but if he is with Lisa and Camilla, as I am sure he is, then it would be even more dangerous for us to be on our own."

Suddenly, from the castle arose a scream. All three snapped their attention to the castle door.

"That sounded like Charlotte." Nathan said.

"I knew it! Come on, we need to get in there and help them!" Serenity yelled as she stared to run up the bridge.

Just as the three of them got to the middle of the bridge, a huge figure jumped down from the castle wall. It was a werewolf, and it was turning back into its human form.

"I do not think so, children." the figure said smiling. Hundreds of wolfs appeared behind Nathan, Hugh, and Serenity. "First you must play with me and my pets." the figure finished as he turned back into his werewolf form.

Hugh was staring at the creature with a saddened face. He said quietly with his head low, "Father..."

The group turned and looked at Charlotte, who was shaking terribly and facing the castle door.

"What is the matter with you? Do you want to announce to the entire castle that we are here?" Eric hissed from across the hallway.

Charlotte took one step, then two away from the door; slowly she lifted her hand, pointing to the archway above the door. "But...look...look at that..." Charlotte stammered.

One by one the group raised their heads until all were looking at what had frightened Charlotte.

"Soma..." Mina uttered and fell into his arms.

"Don't worry Mina, just don't look at it." Soma said quietly into Mina's ear. He walked away from the door and sat with Mina on the stairway, along with most of the others.

"What do you make of it?" Jonathan asked.

"I would say that he either knows we are here, or expected that we were coming." Simon stated, turning his back on the door.

Isaac took a place by Eric and turned to Trevor, who had his head lowered, "Trevor, is that...that couldn't possibly a human, could it?"

Trevor raised his head and nodded slowly, "I am afraid so Isaac, it comes as no surprise though."

"What do you mean by that?" Isaac asked.

"What I mean is that we _are _dealing with Chaos." Trevor replied.

The human in question was hanging from the archway; he or she had their throat cut. It had wooden stakes through both hands and through the feet; it appeared to be an inverted crucifixion. Blood had collected at the base of the door; every couple of minutes blood dripped from the person's mouth or throat, it was hard to tell which.

"Oh God." Mina said, looking around hurriedly.

"What's the matter, are you going to be sick?" Trevor asked from the stairway.

"No; where are Nathan, Hugh, and Serenity? I don't see them anywhere." Charlotte replied, eyes wide she walked over to Eric, "You don't think they're still outside do you?" she continued.

Still holding onto Mina, Soma stated, "Well if they are, then they should be in any minute." The group listened, for what it seemed like hours. Simon moved past Charlotte and Eric and stood a few inches from the pool of blood.

"Do you hear anything, any of you?" Simon asked, gazing around. Everyone shook their heads.

"Isaac, what..." Trevor did not get a chance to finish, because at that moment someone, or something, crashed against the door. The ones still sitting on the stairs jumped up and armed themselves.

"What on earth was that?" Charlotte asked, taking up a fighting stance.

"Maybe it was Serenity or Nathan trying to get in." Jonathan said through his teeth.

"No, it was something else, something bigger." Eric said walking with a few others to the door. Isaac walked, without notion, across the pool of blood and tried to open the door.

"Are you insane? Don't let that thing in!" Jonathan shouted from the stairs.

Isaac turned with a dark aura about him, "If I don't let that "thing" in, my brother and sister could get killed." and he turned back to the door.

He pushed against it, and then pulled, but the door did not move. "Damn." Isaac said and walked back across the blood pool.

"What's the matter?" Eric asked, not taking his eyes off the door.

"It seems to be stuck." Isaac said, taking out his lance.

"Great, now I guess we have to make even more noise trying to open it." Jonathan scowled walking across the hall.

"Right, if it will not open, we just have to break it down." Soma said, unleashing his ax.

"Do not be foolish, we are talking about Serenity, Nathan, and Hugh. They know how to take care of themselves. If we do not move now, we might not get another chance to move about freely." Alucard said, walking up a few stairs.

"But Alu...I mean Adrian, we can't just leave them. What if they're fighting Chaos out there?" Mina asked.

"No, perhaps Adrian is right. If we are going to move, then we better do it now, before they notice." Trevor said, walking after Adrian.

"I don't believe you two, Trevor, you especially." Charlotte snapped, but she too, walked after Adrian.

Eric walked across the blood pool and lightly touched the door, "Be safe you three, do not die on me." he said, then walked back to Adrian and the others.

"Wait, let's make certain on who they are fighting. After we do that we can go, but I must know before we go who they are fighting." said Mina, and most of the others nodded their heads.

"Very well, just make it fast." Adrian said at the top of the first staircase.

Charlotte quickly paged through her book and started the incantation for the spell that would allow them to see what was happening outside the door. Soon a large blue spell circle appeared in front of her, and within seconds, they could all see what Nathan, Serenity, and Hugh were facing outside.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: An Unwelcomed Guest**

The wolves tightened their circle around Serenity, Nathan, and Hugh; snarling and growling at the three. Morris Baldwin, Hugh's father, stood in the path of them and the castle door, fully transformed as a werewolf.

"Now what? We can't fight all these wolfs and him, not without drawing attention to ourselves." Nathan muttered to the others under his breath.

"We cannot avoid him either, we would get killed." Serenity replied back to her brother. Morris growled at the three and stood on his hind legs.

"Well, I guess we will have to try and avoid him and go for the door. Serenity, keep him busy; Hugh and I will go to the door. When we're in, hit him away and get in there fast. The others shouldn't be too far ahead of us, we'll get either Mina or Charlotte to seal the door." Nathan stated.

"Fine by me, Hugh?" Serenity said.

"Yea..." Hugh said coldly.

"Okay, let's move!" Nathan shouted as he and Hugh ran for the door. One of the wolves jumped at the two, Serenity moved into action, "No you don't, heads up you guys!" Serenity unsheathed her sword and struck the wolf with all her strength.

It flew over Nathan and Hugh, and hit the door with full force. Nathan and Hugh skidded to a halt, "What the hell? With that much force, the door should be in pieces." Nathan said as he looked at the door.

"Move for a second." Hugh said as he walked up to the door. He put his hand on it and moved it around for a couple of seconds.

"Damn, we need to find a different way to get in. This door has been sealed with magic."

"What, did those idiots seal the door already?" Nathan demanded.

"No, this door...it was sealed with dark magic. Foul dark magic. It's Chaos no doubt." Hugh stated as he moved back onto the bridge.

"Well, since he knows we're here already, there's no sense in keeping things quiet." Serenity said smiling.

"Right, but we need to get to the others before anyone else gets to them first. Avoid him and the wolves as best you can and see if there is any other way in." Nathan said.

Serenity nodded and looked around the walls of the castle, "I have it, follow me up there." Serenity said pointing to an on look.

Serenity hit wolves out of the way as she made her way over to the castle wall. Nathan and Hugh did the same as they followed her close behind. By the time they had gotten to the wall, there was a rather large blood trail behind them. Morris howled and started to run after them, with about two hundred wolves behind him. Serenity, Nathan, and Hugh began running full speed up the side of the castle wall. Morris was the only one following the three as his wolves began trying to get into the castle by hitting the door, to no avail.

"Keep going, we are almost there." Serenity called back.

They reached the on look in about thirty seconds; following Serenity's lead, the three ran down the on look bridge at great speed. Ahead of them, was a large room with a red door at the back. From the distance they were at, they could not see the black skeleton in the center. Morris launched himself from the on look onto its bridge. Nathan and Hugh were falling further and further behind Serenity. Suddenly, Morris crashed down in between Serenity and the others.

Not noticing, Serenity ran into the room as Nathan called out "Serenity!"

Serenity turned just in time to see Morris stand back up on his hind legs in front of Nathan and Hugh.

"Nathan! Hugh!" Serenity called back to them.

She ran back the way she came, but a red door with the very same design as the other door slammed shut, closing her off from the fight that was ensuing outside the room. As the door closed, Nathan and Hugh saw three figures in the room behind Serenity. One of which could be clearly seen with glowing red eyes and a cunning smile.

Serenity slammed her fists against the door, "Damn it," she said through her teeth "Morris! If you hurt them I'm going to make killing you the top priority of this mission!" She tilted her head down and took two steps back from the door.

The figure with the red eyes laughed as it said, "My dearest Serenity, your brother and friend are the least of your worries now."

Serenity's head rose and she turned around to face the three figures.

"Chaos, I might have known you were behind this." she said as she steeled herself.

Light filled the room as Chaos laughed once again, "You think _I_ had something to do with this? Don't be foolish, I would never sink so low to ask that old fool for help with anything."

He moved closer to Serenity as Lisa and Camilla moved back into the shadows smiling.

"And I certainly don't need help," he said touching her cheek, "with getting you all to myself."

Serenity swung her sword, missing Chaos by mere inches as he jumped back with grace.

"Now now Serenity, play nice with the master." Camilla laughed across the room.

Serenity looked over at her and then Lisa and stated, "I suppose you two want in on the fun too?"

Camilla joined Lisa and sneered at Serenity, "There would be nothing we would enjoy more than ripping the flesh from your body, but master wants you all to himself."

Lisa joined in and said, "So I guess we will have to play with some of your friends instead."

Serenity pointed her sword at Lisa as fire engulfed the blade and shouted, "Leave them out of this, if you want to fight then fight with me."

Lisa and Camilla laughed as Chaos stepped in front of her, "No Serenity, I want to play with you without interruptions. Let them go, and after I finish with you then perhaps you can go help your pathetic friends. Or..." Chaos smiled.

Serenity lowered her sword and asked, "Or?"

He stepped back, bowed and then smiled, his sharp white teeth glistening as Lisa and Camilla left the room, "I might just keep you with me."

Serenity charged Chaos as he brought out his sword, "Serenity, you are not playing fair." he laughed as he jumped out of the way of her swing.

She took a step forward, smiled and said, "What's not fair?"

Chaos landed with his graceful step and smiled back at her, "You must let your opponent draw his weapon before you attack. I thought you of all people would know how to fight honorably, but then again look who you learned your lessons from."

Serenity laughed as she took another swing at Chaos, "Honorably? How would you know anything about honor? And never talk about _his_ way of teaching me." Rolling out of Serenity's swing and coming back with one of his own he glared at her and said, "Oh that's right, you are in love with him are you not?"

Blocking his sword with hers she glared back at him and said, "No, I am not. But just because I'm not in love with him doesn't mean I don't care about him, he's my..." the words caught in her throat and Chaos threw her down, the fire of her sword going out as it slid away from reach.

He stepped up and pointed his sword down at her, "He's your what, friend? Don't make me laugh. I never would have pegged the prince of darkness as being the kind of person to make friends with pretty little girls like you."

Serenity jumped up and kicked Chaos back against the wall, sending his sword flying from his hand. She ran after him, passing her sword and yelled, "You know nothing!"


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: Separate Ways**

"Oh my God..." Mina said taking a step back, "what should we do? We can't just leave them."

Soma put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Mina, calm down. I don't think we have much of a choice."

"Charlotte, do you think you can break the connection on Nathan and Hugh and see what's going on with Serenity?" Trevor asked with a hint of nervousness. Charlotte nodded and read a passage from her book, in a few seconds Hugh and Nathan faded from view and a new horror was in front of them.

Isaac and Eric stiffened at the sight of Serenity lying on the ground with Chaos standing over her, his sword pointed at her neck.

"Damn it, this is just what we didn't want to happen." Trevor said through his teeth.

Trevor recalled the past month's events when they last fought Chaos. He and Simon had gone off on their own to search for Serenity and Hugh, and what they found still made his blood boil to this day. Chaos had a plan to take Serenity over by forcing himself on her. He would have taken her if it were not for himself and Simon engaging in a fight with him and driving him off.

"We cannot do anything for them here" Alucard said, breaking Trevor from his thoughts, "we need to move before we have even more problems."

"Adrian is right, if we move fast we might be able to help Serenity, depending on the demons already on the move in the castle." Simon said and he started moving up the staircase.

All but Eric and Charlotte followed him up the stairs.

"Let's go you two, you heard Simon." Soma called over his shoulder. Charlotte was just about to close the link before she gasped and saw Serenity. She had knocked Chaos back against the wall and was holding him by his neck. The others stopped and instantly saw what had made Charlotte cry out. A pitch-black aura was surrounding Serenity and her eyes had gone from a clear blue to crimson red. Chaos said something to her, but whatever it was no one could tell. Serenity tilted her head to the right, her eyes never leaving his. She smiled, showing that her fangs were out, and started laughing.

"Enough," Eric said breaking Charlotte's spell with one of his own. "we must not linger here any longer."

Eric grabbed Charlotte by the arm and ran up the stairs to the others. Releasing her, Eric took the lead as everyone ran up the steps at full speed. The group cleared three floors, none saying a word, before Lisa and Camilla halted them in the fourth floor.

"Oh my, would you look at this. You have all done well to get this far." Camilla cooed from the center of the room.

"Master thought you would only get to the second floor before we came to you." Lisa said, smiling at them, her eyes never leaving Adrian's.

"Well, I guess we have no choice. I want all of you to get out of here and make your way up to the throne room. Isaac and I will handle these two." Eric said taking out his sword.

The group stepped away from Lisa and Camilla and started for the set of stairs to the left as Lisa said, "Oh boo, I was hoping I could play with my Alucard," she took out a knife and licked the blade, "Well, I should have guessed that whore's brothers would ruin my fun."

Isaac stepped forward with a cold look in his eyes, taking out his lance he looked over his shoulder to Eric, "Stay out of this fight Eric," he looked back at Lisa and smiled, "this one's mine."

Serenity's hand pressed around Chaos' neck as her eyes clouded and turned a bloody haze of red. She forced Chaos tight against the wall as a black cloud surrounded her and licked at Chaos' face. He wasn't smiling anymore but it was clear that he still found the situation amusing.

When he spoke his voice came in a whisper, "That's my girl."

Serenity's eyes never left his as she tilted her head, as if to say she didn't understand. In an instant her blood-red eyes brightened and she smiled at him, her pure white fangs glistening in the light of the room. She began laughing as she brought her head back up and moved with blinding speed closer to Chaos' ear.

With a dark voice she said, "If I'm yours, why don't you try to tame me?"

Serenity jumped up and kicked Chaos in the chest before she sailed half way across the room and landed gently by her sword. Chaos, seemingly unaffected by her kick moved away from the wall towards his sword, bent, and picked it back up. Serenity's right hand hovered over her sword and it flew up into her hand, the instant the handle touched her flesh the blade of the sword burst into pitch-black flames.

"You are getting stronger with your powers I see." Chaos stated through a forced smile.

The intensity of the flames was making the room warmer.

Serenity brought the sword up to an offensive stance as she smiled and replied, "So you noticed, but my question for you is what you are going to do about it?"

She took five paces to Chaos before she stopped and put a hand on her head, with struggling words she continued, "Will you kill me?...Uhhh...or will you try...to make me yours...again?"

Serenity closed her eyes and dropped her sword, making the black flames disappear just as fast as they formed. She followed it as she dropped to her knees and held her head in her hands. Chaos was laughing again as he sheathed his sword and walked to the door opposite where Serenity had entered.

He looked at the door and asked, "Why fight it Serenity? I know deep in your heart that you want to give into the darkness that sleeps there."

Chaos focused on the door, making it creak, and then fly open.

He turned around to look at her and continued, "And I know that you want to give into me. I saw it in your eyes when you looked at me and I've seen it before."

Not looking up, and her voice returning to normal Serenity stated, "You don't know me...you never have...and you never...will. You don't know...how dangerous this...thing inside me is."

She looked up at him, her eyes turning back to a crystal blue, she saw that he wasn't laughing or smiling at her. With cold eyes, eyes that could kill a mortal man if he held his gaze too long, his left arm stretched out in front of him.

"You never gave me a chance to know you." He said in a voice that could freeze fire.

Serenity never got a chance to reply, because in that moment Chaos launched a dark ball at the floor. The ball hovered for a second then slammed into the ground at frightening velocity. To Serenity it seemed that the entire castle was shaking, she tried to get to her feet but was knocked off balance when a crack split the floor in half. From the big crack in the middle, hundreds branched off from it. Serenity looked back to Chaos just in time to see him launch a red ball, just slightly bigger than the black ball, at the floor. This ball didn't hover and it crashed into the floor, disappearing as it hit. Serenity had no time to act; the floor beneath her crumbled and fell away. She felt herself dropping down, slowly at first then faster and faster until she fell away into the darkness.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: Torn Dreams**

The door between Serenity and Morris slammed shut with a dull roar. Nathan tried running past Morris to no avail. With huge claws he ripped at Nathan, sending him flying back, he landed a few feet from where he and Hugh had previously been standing.

"Serenity!" Hugh called again as he tried his luck to get past his father.

He too was thrown back but with more force than he had thrown Nathan. Hugh skidded on his back and rolled back to his feet before charging for the door again.

Nathan's arm outstretched and caught him before Hugh could pass him, "Stop, we are not going to get to her like this. We need to get into the castle by another way."

Morris dropped down on all four of his massive legs and started padding toward Nathan and Hugh. Nathan followed the door up and saw a window on the sixth story of the castle.

He pointed and whispered to Hugh, "We go there, but first we need to deal with him. If we can throw him..." Nathan could not finish because Hugh shoved him out of the way just in time to save him from his father's claws.

Nathan couldn't get his arms up in time to save himself from being thrown into the bridge's railing. He hit at full force and the impact took the breath out of him.

Nathan turned around to see Morris holding his son by the throat over the bridge, "Hugh!" Nathan screamed as he charged at Morris, his whip ready for an attack.

Wolves had gathered under the bridge, waiting for their master to feed them his son. Morris let Hugh drop seconds before Nathan got his attack in, the whip cutting into his furred flesh. He snarled in anger and backed up a few feet on the bridge. Preparing for the worst Nathan looked over the railing to find Hugh dangling from the side of the castle, his sword stuck into the ancient stones.

Hugh looked up and smiled, "You didn't think I was going to let my old man get the best of me did you?" but his smile faded as he saw Morris lunge for Nathan. "Behind you Nathan!"

Nathan turned and struck another deep gash into Morris, making him growl louder and back down. Hugh struggled to get his footing on the castle wall as Nathan continued to fend off Morris. In a matter of seconds he was back on the bridge ready to help Nathan. He knew what Nathan wanted to do and he was prepared to go along with his idea. Morris was in the perfect position now, and if Hugh moved fast enough Nathan's plan just might work.

"Nathan, now!" Hugh yelled as he sliced his father with his sword from behind.

The strength from Hugh's blow sent Morris lunging forward as Nathan dropped to his knees and whipped his legs out from under him. Morris went over the railing just like Hugh had. And like Hugh he clawed at the castle wall to keep himself from falling. Reddish foam had formed on Morris' mouth as he snarled at Nathan and Hugh.

"Sorry, but we don't have time to play with you or your pets any longer." Nathan said smiling as he whipped at Morris' claws until he let go and fell.

Morris hit the ground with a loud thud, his wolves surrounding his limp body. The fall had rendered him unconscious, for now. Nathan and Hugh ran threw puddles of blood and were just about ready to jump to the next bridge where they could gain access to the sixth floor when a huge blast seemed to shake the entire castle.

"What's going on? They couldn't have possibly gotten to the throne room yet." Hugh said hanging on the rail to keep his balance.

"No," Nathan started looking to the door, "it is Chaos."

Nathan and Hugh shared a look of terror as they both broke out in a run for the next bridge. It only took a mere three seconds before they got to the sixth floor and then an even fiercer blast shook them both off their feet, sending them crashing through the window.

In the dim room Nathan tried rising to his feet, only to get knocked down again.

"What does he think he's doing? Does he want to bring the entire castle down?" Hugh shouted over the rumbling, shards of glass moving in motion on the floor.

"I don't know, something must have happened." Nathan replied back, using the broken window frame for support this he managed to get to his feet.

"What do you mean? You don't think Serenity...?" Hugh questioned.

"I've never felt Chaos use this much energy on a single blast before. If Serenity did or said something to him it must have enraged him greatly." Nathan said, helping Hugh to his feet.

All at once the shaking stopped again and everything was silent. Soon there was a quiet dripping sound. Nathan looked down at his hand, now streaked red with blood. He looked at the broken window and saw a small pool of blood where he had grabbed at the broken glass fragments for balance.

"It's a little too quiet in here. What happened to all the monsters and demons that were supposed to be here?" Hugh asked as he sheathed his sword and walked around the room.

"I'm not sure Hugh." Nathan replied, wrapping his hand loosely in a piece of cloth.

In a few minutes the wound would heal, but if there were monsters in the castle he didn't want to risk bringing them all to Hugh and himself.

"We better get moving, Serenity may be in trouble." Hugh said quietly, almost to himself.

"Right." Nathan said as he moved next to Hugh.

They walked a few paces to the door that would take them to the staircase to go down when Nathan stopped dead, his eyes wide in terror.

Hugh turned back to him and questioned, "What's the matter?" with a look of concern on his face.

"Hugh, what if there are no monsters in this castle because it was a trap?" Nathan said looking at Hugh.

"What? What are you talking abou..." Hugh started then he too took on a look of horror. "Of course...My God Nathan it would explain everything, the door getting sealed and Chaos wanting to fight Serenity."

"We need to get everyone back together; if what Serenity said before was true then this is..." Nathan stopped and both Hugh and Nathan looked at the door.

Someone or something was coming up the stairs, fast. They both backed up so that they were next to the window again. Nathan let the piece of cloth in his hand fall; it hit the glass on the floor with a sickening sound and tinted the shards red. Hugh and Nathan's expressions hardened and so did their bodies as the heavy door to the staircase opened.

Serenity slammed into the ground, hard. It took several minutes for her head to clear, the last bit of red leaving her eyes. She sat up and winced at a dull pain in her left hand; she looked down and saw a sharp stone piercing through it. It was a stone from one of the floors from above, already she was beginning to heal but the puddle of blood around her hand was growing rapidly. Without notion she pulled the stone out with her right hand and threw it across the hall.

"Damn it." she whispered quietly to herself.

Standing Serenity looked up from where she had fallen, even with her vampire sight she couldn't see how far she had fallen. If she had to guess she was in the basement of the castle, the damp smell of the catacombs and waterways filling her senses with every breath. She started walking down the hall to the only visible door when a fierce pain in her head caused her to crash against the wall. Dropping to her knees her hands flew to her head as she screamed in pain. In mere seconds the pain left her and she covered her mouth, her eyes darting around the room. She noticed her sword a few feet from where she landed and with great effort managed to walk calmly over to pick it up. As soon as the sword was sheathed laughter filled the room and surrounding halls.

Serenity turned as a deep voice echoed through the basement, "Serenity dear, how have you been?"

Serenity didn't move, and she did not answer the voice but her breath came in more quick and shallow than she would have liked. Whether she accepted it or not she was scared.

"Oh, you are not even going to talk to me now. Foolish child, even if you keep silent I can hear your thoughts clearly."

Serenity took a deep breath to calm her before she answered, "What do I have to talk to you about? If you can hear my thoughts why don't you tell me what I plan to do?"

The voice laughed again and stated, "I see that my children have been giving you a hard time, my dear. Why don't we punish them together hm?"

Serenity's eyes darkened as she walked to the door, "I do not need you to fight with me in order to kill them."

Just as Serenity opened the door and was about to walk out a pitch black hand with sharp, black fingernails reached out through the darkness of the room and grabbed her left arm, the wound on her hand reopened and began to drip blood on the floor.

"Insolent child, never forget that your soul, your body, everything that makes up your being belongs to me." The voice said, deeper and darker than it had before.

Serenity broke free of the hand's grasp and ran down the corridor; the voice's laughter echoing off the cold stonewalls. She didn't know where she was running to, and at this point she didn't care. She had to get away; she couldn't hear his voice after she had almost lost control of herself. She paid no attention to the skulls and skeletons that littered the walls and floor. Dried blood made the walls and locked doors seem like shadows. Serenity didn't stop running until her feet hit water on stone and her feet were damp. She was in the waterways now, all she had to do was fallow the flow of water to the stairs and make her way up to the main floor. She caught her breath and looked around the main room of the waterway, the smell of crystal clear water mixed with the old smell of blood and mold. For the first time her thoughts turned back to what Chaos had said to her before he destroyed the floor.

_"You never gave me a chance to know you."_

What did he mean by that? Serenity walked through one of the tiny streams created by the flow of water, her feet making splashing sounds.

When she got to the other side where she could walk freely out of the water she sighed and mumbled, "Of course, Hugh told me before that Chaos exerted feelings for me." She slammed her fist into the wall, "I was such an idiot, I could have avoided being brushed aside this whole time if I had just thought things through."

The voice was in her head this time as it laughed and said, "You could avoid a lot of things if you would just think things through my dear."

"Get out of my head!" Serenity yelled as she dropped to her knees once again.

Everything was silent except for her voice echoing off the walls. Serenity looked around the waterway, her eyes falling on the deep pool of clear water in the center of the room. Bubbles started forming in the center of the pool; they started slowly and gained in number and in force.

Serenity's eyes grew huge as she rose to her feet, "No." she said as she backed against the wall.

"You see," the voice laughed in Serenity's head, "if you would think before you act you could avoid a lot of things."

The voice's shrill laughter echoed through Serenity's head as an enormous dragon raised out of the water, its deep blue eyes glaring at Serenity as it's mouth opened to reveal a full set of very sharp teeth.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: Guided By Hate**

Eric's sword tore at Camilla's flesh as she took several steps away from him.

She winced at the pain and glared at him, "It would seem that you are tired of playing with me. Are you that worried about you poor, pathetic sister?" she sneered at him.

Eric smiled and replied, "I am not worried about her, I'm just sick of you three all together."

Isaac slammed into Eric, knocking them both onto the cold floor. Lisa smiled and walked over to where Camilla was hunched over, a pool of blood collecting at her feet.

"Is that the best a devil forge master can do? Rumor has it that your powers equaled that of Death." Lisa laughed at them and swung her sword around to sheathe it. "Or maybe you just a little stronger push to get your blood boiling." she continued as she walked over and put a hand on Isaac's head.

Isaac quickly rose to his feet and slashed Lisa across the chest, "Do not lay even one finger on me, demon!" he shouted, his eyes blazing.

Eric rose to stand beside his brother, "Be calm Isaac, don't lose yourself in rage." he stated calmly.

Camilla laughed as she straightened; revealing that her wound had healed, "Why stop him? The boy had such potential under lord Chaos' eye, as did that other boy with white hair."

Camilla picked up her sword as both she and Lisa took up stances. Isaac and Eric met their stances with stances of their own, all four ready to strike in mere seconds.

"Enough talk." Isaac said and charged at Lisa.

"My thoughts exactly." Lisa grinned and launched herself at Isaac.

Eric charged at Camilla who blocked and sent him flying across the room, almost throwing him out the window. It took only seconds for her to follow after him, outstretching her sword so that she could impale him. He blocked and sent a wave of wind against her. The wind drove her back only several feet and before Eric could regain his senses he felt ice cold steel sink into his chest.

Isaac charged after Lisa with his lance, with wrath as his motivation he slashed and lunged at her with intense strength. He hit her several times before he heard Eric cry out in pain.

He whipped his head around to see Camilla had stabbed him in his chest, "Eric!" he yelled.

"You took your eyes off the birdie." Lisa whispered behind him.

Before he had time to react Lisa's knife drove through his back, missing his heart by mere inches.

Eric looked up, "Isaac, no!" he yelled.

He struggled to get the sword out of his chest, to no avail. Hate and rage was surging in Eric's eyes. He couldn't loose Isaac; he had to do something, anything, to save his brother. Isaac dropped to his knees, his head dropping as Lisa pulled her knife out of him. She started walking toward Camilla and Eric, her white teeth glistening off the moonlight as she smiled.

Isaac's head shot up as he screamed, "Abel!"

As soon as the words left his mouth a seal appeared on the ground under him and in seconds a devil stood in front of them all.

With his rage at its peak Isaac commanded the devil with a single word, "Go!" and it took off and hit Lisa through the window. The sound of broken glass filled the room as Isaac ran forward and sent Camilla flying out the window after Lisa.

Abel landed next to Isaac and folded his arms, his wings coming back together on his back.

Isaac looked at Eric as he yanked the sword from his chest, "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'll be fine, and you?" Eric questioned back, glancing to Abel.

"Yes." Isaac answered simply, his wound already healed.

Isaac and Eric began walking to the stairs when Lisa's voice filled the room, "You fools think you have won? All you have managed to do was fill my anger."

Lisa and Camilla came in through the shattered window and were about to continue their attack when Chaos' voice shook the room. "Enough, you both have had your fun. I want you in the throne room now!" his voice commanded.

"You are lucky lord Chaos calls for us, for he is the only force that could stop us." Camilla stated as both herself and Lisa vanished before their eyes.

"I guess we got lucky with that one." Isaac said, "Abel, return!" he commanded.

Eric and Isaac were half way up the stairs when an enormous wolf broke through one of the larger windows. It landed on all fours and was soon rising up to its hind legs. It looked up at Eric and Isaac and smiled, its bloodstained teeth glowing in the light, half a dozen wolfs entered through the broken window it had just created, with more on the way.

"I think you might have spoken too soon." Eric said through clenched teeth as he began running up the stairs at full speed.

"Morris." Isaac said as he ran after Eric. Morris and his wolves howled together as one and soon they were running after Isaac and Eric up the staircase.

Serenity jumped out of the way of the dragon's massive claws. They hit the stone floor with such force that it cracked several feet down, spraying a mist of water into the air. Serenity took out her sword and it instantly burst into flames. The dragon roared as it brought it's clawed hand back down over Serenity's head. She moved just in time to save herself from the dragon's blow.

"Take this!" She yelled as just hurled her sword at the dragon's neck.

The sword began to spin in a furry of intense flames and soared to its mark. The dragon's head and neck leaned back and it breathed, not fire, but ice at Serenity's sword. It was frozen in the air, unable to move, with the fire dying under the frosty ice.

"Yea, that's what I figured. An Ice Dragon in the waterways." Serenity sighed as she jumped out of the way of another swing from the dragon's claws.

Serenity ran as fast as her legs would take her and jumped for her frozen sword. Just as she gripped the handle the dragon let out another jolt of icy breath, freezing her hand to the hilt. Serenity screamed despite herself as ice traveled down her arm and up her neck. She was trapped. She struggled in vain against the ice as the dragon opened its mouth and began another assault. Serenity had just enough time to look the dragon in its cold eyes before it unleashed yet another icy blast. The dragon growled as it brought its long blue tail out of the water. Serenity couldn't move, but she could still see and think.

_"What am I supposed to do now? I can't move, not even an inch."_

She saw, with horror, what the dragon had planned for her. The dragon brought its tail around and was preparing to smash the ice statue it had created.

Serenity's eyes grew with horror; the pain of being smashed into tiny pieces while she was frozen would be unbearable. And what's worse, she wouldn't be able to survive the impact. Even if she was a vampire, vampires couldn't regenerate if their bodies were in pieces. She put all of her concentration on her sword, if she could get the ice to melt at least a fraction before the dragon brought it's tail back around she could shatter the ice before the dragon shattered her. A small flicker of flame glowed in the ice, but before it could gain strength the coldness of the ice put the flame out.

_"Damn it, this isn't going to work. I don't have anymore time to get a flame going."_

The dragon swung its tail with a huge force and it roared with anger. Serenity couldn't close her eyes or even wince as she saw the tail coming straight for her.

_"No, not like this. It can't..."_

Before Serenity could finish her thought a fireball flew from a dark part of the room and hit the ice. At the same time, from the same place, a green light sliced through the air and cut off half of the dragon's tail. Serenity's eyes darted back and forth between the dragon and the area that the two attacks came from. The dragon roared in fury as the half of the tail that had been severed fell into the pool. The water was already beginning to turn red with blood as the dragon's roar echoed off the walls of the waterway. Serenity could feel the ice around her melting; if she was going to act she had to act now while the dragon was distracted with pain. She strengthened her grip around her sword, as a large flame burst from it, with the ice getting warm it could no longer put the flame of her sword out. A second fireball flew and smashed into the ice, Serenity used all of her strength to break free off her icy tomb.

She landed in a pool of dragon blood as she stated, "Let's try that again shall we?"

The dragon had no time to react to the now free Serenity as she plunged her fiery sword into its heart. It reared its head back and let lose a combination of blood and ice. In seconds the dragon sunk below the surface of the now crimson colored pool, it thrashed for only an instant before it died and sank all the way to the bottom. Serenity was breathing hard, the ice had stolen the sliver of warmth that she had in her body. Her thoughts turned back to where the fireballs and green light had originated. None of the hunters that had joined her here could have done that, and to a dragon no less.

Serenity stood ready as she called out, "I know you are still here, come out or I will come to you."

Serenity's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in terror, she thought she was prepared for anything, but certainly not for this.

"Hello Serenity, it has been ages. And I must say you have gotten rather bold, to take on an Ice Dragon with that sword of yours and think you could win by yourself." The figure standing in the shadows came out into the dull light and continued with a smile, "I thought I taught you better than that."

** To Be Continued...**


End file.
